Since then, Mac’s life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf.

Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy’s murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy’s boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.

Kathleen Peacock’s thrilling novel is the first in the Hemlock trilogy, a spellbinding urban fantasy series filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love.

Anyone who knows me well knows that werewolf books aren’t really my favorite. But I do have some I’ve really enjoyed and when I saw some early reviews on Hemlock I knew it was one I had to try. And I am so glad I did! This is definitely going on my favorite werewolf books list, no doubt about it!

One thing I loved was that we were kept guessing. I thought the mystery was fantastic and not knowing who was good and who was bad was great. I loved how things were not always what they seemed and even when you thought someone was good we were convinced that maybe they weren’t good. As things were gradually revealed we could come up with other ideas only to be knocked down by other revelations.

I loved the characters! Mac wasn’t an annoying girl that made stupid decisions. She made some choices that weren’t so smart, but she did them with passion and not with stupidity. She didn’t want to lose more of her friends and she’d do anything to make sure they didn’t get hurt, even if it meant putting herself in danger. I never felt annoyed with Mac and loved how she had so much love for her friends and people in her life. The romance in this book worked well because there wasn’t any instant love. And while there was potential for a love triangle it hasn’t really quite become one. I feel pretty okay with it though and kind of think it works with this book. Hopefully I feel the same way in the next book about that though.

I honestly could really rave and rave about this book. It’s hard for me to try to pick out something that I didn’t like. I think that the whole story line worked really well and it all felt completely unique to me. In the description it says “filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love” and I think that’s a perfect description right there.

This was a beautiful story that had me at page one. And while it has plenty left for us to anticipate, it didn’t have a cliffhanger. I very highly recommend you pick this one up!

Disclosure: I received this book for review purposes. All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.

About Candace

Candace is an eclectic reader that loves young adult and adult books. She also reviews children's and middle grade books because she's the mother of two children. She's been blogging since 2008 and is also the owner and operator of CBB Book Promotions.

Fara,I totally agree! SOME werewolf books ARE really good! And I love Andrea Cremer’s world of wolves as well. I just tend to not have a real urge to read werewolf books for some reason.

Natalie,I hope you do try it! I thought it was different from any other werewolf book though I read another review where she felt it was full of cliches but she still enjoyed it. I guess we all have different takes on books.

Braine,I KNOW! I don’t know what to think of Jason yet. I guess we’ll see…

Heidi,I hope you can fit it in! And I agree, it is a depressing day out there… heavy rain gets me down. But it’s really warm! It definitely feels like a Spring rain instead of winter, which is good!

I’m not a werewolf person, or vampire person either for that matter. But I seriously loved this book so much! It was incredible! It was one of those that you can’t stop gushing about, and nothing you say will do it justice. So glad you liked it! 🙂

Fantastic review!! I felt the same and I’ve never been a huge werewolf fan before, but I’m definitely starting to enjoy the new stories with them! I can’t wait for more of this wonderful world and characters.